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How to make a model of blood

March 16, 2014 Ticia 24 Comments

I’ve been looking forward to making a model of blood for a long time, because I thought I had 5 different models of blood pinned on my anatomy board.  I don’t.  So, I re-started from scratch and modified what is in our anatomy textbook (affiliate link).

How to make a model of blood using what's in your kitchen

Alternatively titled: How to make a model of blood using what’s in your kitchen (but that’s too much of a mouthful).

{This post contains affiliate links.  See my full Disclosure statement for more information}

supplies needed for model of blood

Supplies for model of blood (affiliate links):

Mixing Bowl, 2-Cup Measuring Cup, Jelly Belly Very Cherry Jelly Beans (or Red Hots ), cake sprinkles , Off White Cream Soda Jelly Beans (my candy was bought from the bulk bin at our local grocery store, so that is a good option to look into), blood notebooking page from our Anatomy notebooking journal.

 

How to make a model of blood step by step

model of blood step 1

1.  Measure out 1 cup of light corn syrup.  Start to do this and discover the old bottle you had, was THAT OLD and throw it away because it won’t pour.  That and there was something suspicious in the bottom of the bottle. EWWWWWW.

This is the plasma, which makes up most of your blood and is a light straw color

making model of blood tip

2.  Pour your corn syrup into the bowl. (For the rest of the steps I’ll combine this into one)  I wanted to highlight part of what makes our experiments go smoother, I move the steps around so everyone gets to do things, AND try to make sure everyone gets to pour and measure.

model of blood step 3

3.  Measure out 3/4 cup of RED jelly beans (or red hots, no one likes red hots so we got jelly beans).  Pour them into the bowl, make sure to get the ones stuck to your measuring cup out.

These represent red blood cells.  Red blood cells do all the delivery work bringing food and air to the other cells and carrying away the waste.

model of blood step 4

4.  Stir your mixture around.  Notice how the red jelly beans give the appearance of red to the plasma.

model of blood step 5

5.  Drop in your single white jelly bean and stir it around.

This represents the white blood cell, in this scale model of a WELL person’s blood there are not very many white blood cells.  The number goes up when you are sick.

model of blood step 6

6.  Shake in the candy sprinkles.  Each of my kids were given a chance to shake in some platelets, so we may have had more platelets than strictly neccessary.

The candy sprinkles are the platelets.  Platelets are the every man of your blood.  They make up the scabs you get, they repair problems in your blood vessels, they do all the dirty work.

model of blood record observations

7.  Finally record what you noticed as you made your model of blood.  This particular time the kids records weren’t the best.  They were too excited about the big huge mess they’d made making it.  That and keeping it to show Daddy.

Come back next week for our lesson on blood types.

Model of Blood posts elsewhere

Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

I Game Mom

Homeschool Scientist

 

science 3rd grade, anatomy

Comments

  1. Claire says

    March 16, 2014 at 2:16 pm

    Great model, and so simple and inexpensive.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 16, 2014 at 10:36 pm

      Thanks! I loved how easy it was too.

    • Michell says

      December 16, 2017 at 8:30 pm

      Where do I find the big notebook they are journaling in?

    • Ticia says

      December 16, 2017 at 10:46 pm

      The very last item on the supply list is the “Anatomy notebooking journal” that they’re journaling in. I highly recommend it if you are using Apologia Anatomy.

  2. Christy says

    March 16, 2014 at 2:18 pm

    Looks like fun. I always like how you explain how to do activities with the kids, not just for them.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 16, 2014 at 10:37 pm

      Thanks! It is such a struggle sometimes to let them do it and not me. Especially because I like to do it too.

  3. Phyllis at All Things Beautiful says

    March 16, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    i am happy that you simplified it> i have seen all the different models< too

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 16, 2014 at 10:37 pm

      Some of them really weren’t that much more complicated, but involved buying things I wasn’t going to use again (lima beans, those don’t get eaten here).

  4. Hwee says

    March 16, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    This is a great way to make the model, using inexpensive items. I shall have to bookmark it for our future lesson. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 19, 2014 at 7:47 am

      You’re welcome! It was a blast to do.

  5. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    March 16, 2014 at 6:42 pm

    I love your model!

    Reply
  6. Marie-Claude Leroux says

    March 17, 2014 at 10:30 am

    Great model! I imagine the kids enjoyed eating the candy as well 🙂

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 19, 2014 at 7:50 am

      Oh my yes they did.

  7. Lindsay @ BytesofMemory says

    March 17, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    Great model! I love when things come together well! I am pinning this for later 🙂

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 19, 2014 at 7:52 am

      I do too, I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.

  8. Susan Evans says

    March 18, 2014 at 8:54 am

    What a great way to learn about blood! I had to laugh when your corn syrup didn’t pour. Just the other day my husband told me he didn’t want me using corn syrup because it was not food.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 19, 2014 at 7:52 am

      Yeah, after our last experience, I may well side with him. Of course my corn syrup had been sitting there for several years, so it’s kinda like honey crystallizing as it gets older.

  9. Natalie says

    March 27, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    Super cool! I pinned for the future (if there is a future, in which we have time for hands-on science like that).

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 30, 2014 at 8:34 pm

      The model doesn’t really take that long, it’s remembering to have the ingredients……

  10. Heidi Ciravola says

    August 5, 2016 at 8:03 am

    “Alternatively titled: How to make a model of blood using what’s in your kitchen (but that’s too much of a mouthful).”

    Ha! It may be a mouthful but it totally nails it! I love things I can do with stuff we already have on hand!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      August 5, 2016 at 8:31 am

      So true.

  11. Kelly says

    February 2, 2017 at 6:53 am

    Great activity! I am doing this with my students next week (3/4th grade health class), and was wondering where you found the “blood” worksheet for them to fill out. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      February 2, 2017 at 7:26 am

      It’s from the notebook that goes with our textbook, I’ll add in the link for where I got it.

  12. michelle says

    February 4, 2021 at 8:26 pm

    OMG amazing, it so hard at first. GRErAT JOBBB. I LOVE IT! Turn OUT SO GREAT!

    Reply

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Ticia Adventures in Mommydom Hi, I'm Ticia! This is the adventures of my family in life and learning. Follow along with us as we share our adventures. We're having a lot of fun and learning as we go.

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